Perhaps just as often or more, we hear the recommendation that we should be drinking 8 glasses of water a day, and we hear that we should be getting 8 hours of sleep.

But, is this just another one of those things that we haven’t bothered to question because it’s something that we’ve heard so many times that we just believe it to be true?

Many creative geniuses from the past thrived on a very small amount of sleep, between 1-4 hours a night in fact, and then a few short naps of 20-30 minutes throughout the day. If you’re thinking, how the heck did they manage that, I’m a complete zombie when I don’t sleep enough, well, you’re not alone.

Are there certain brain types that can function on little sleep? Perhaps this is something that many creative types have in common, or is there a trick to this whole process of sleep that we are unaware of?

Who says we need to get 8 hours of sleep and is everyone really the same? Imagine only sleeping for 4 hours a night, you would have all that extra time to do … literally whatever you wanted, but could we be healthy, function, and thrive in our lives on that little amount of sleep?

An author from Bright Side, recently decided to give this alternative sleep cycle a shot, to test this idea for himself. In the video below, he describes his experience and whether or not this is something that he could keep up with, check it out!

Anything Is Possible

Even though this idea of polyphasic sleep goes against a huge part of our lives that we have always believed to be a certain way, it doesn’t mean that it’s not worth a try. After watching the video, to me, the most difficult thing would be to have so much time alone, during the time that you are awake and everyone else is asleep.

However, the idea to unlock several more full days per week is also very enticing, especially if we always feel that there is just not enough time in the day.

Is There A Conspiracy Behind… Sleep?

Maybe we don’t have to give it that label, but it definitely feels like there has been some information that has been withheld from us – where does this “8 hours a night” notion even come from? If so many creative geniuses from our past were able to thrive on such little sleep, why haven’t we heard more about this alternative cycle? Shouldn’t this be more common knowledge?

Perhaps we are truly doing ourselves a disservice by choosing to sleep so much. Imagine everyone in the world started sleeping for only 2 – 4 hours a night, it wouldn’t feel so lonely then at all, and just imagine all of the extra time we would have to focus on how to solve the biggest challenges humanity is facing today.

Check out the following infographic for more information:

Polyphasic sleep is definitely something everyone should try to see if it works for them. Particularly if you always feel like you need more time and just have a lot more you would like to do.

As mentioned in the video, just be sure to do your research – there are a ton of resources available online and just remember to be aware of the potential risks during the transition period. Check out Alternative Sleep Cycles: 7 – 10 Hours Are Not Needed for some more information.

Sleep when you feel like it, sounds much better than sleep when you’re supposed to, to me! Question everything.